Letter shows Ecclestone paid banker bribe - report

A German newspaper has published more details about its claim that Bernie
Ecclestone paid a $50 million bribe amid the sale of F1's commercial
rights five years ago.
Earlier in January, the sport's chief executive vowed to "fight it in the
courts"...

A German newspaper has published more details about its claim that Bernie
Ecclestone paid a $50 million bribe amid the sale of F1's commercial
rights five years ago.

Earlier in January, the sport's chief executive vowed to "fight it in the
courts" if publications continued to allege he paid German banker Gerhard
Gribkowsky a $50 million kickback when the rights were sold by BayernLB to
F1's current owners CVC.

The newsmagazine Stern subsequently alleged that the payments to Gribkowsky
were linked with a company called Petara -- a word made up from the names
of Ecclestone's daughters Petra and Tamara.

Now, the Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper claims it has found "concrete
evidence" about the Ecclestone link.

The evidence is reportedly a letter to 80-year-old Briton Ecclestone from
an Austrian company called GREP GmbH, which received the bulk of the
Gribkowsky payment.

The letter, marked as confidential and dated December 14 2007, demands that
Ecclestone pay a missing instalment of $2.3 million as well as late
penalties.

The writer was a lawyer working for Gribkowsky, and SZ cited sources in
revealing that Ecclestone was "outraged" when he received the letter in
London.

The latest media report said Formula One Management has renewed its denial
that the company or its boss Ecclestone were involved with or had any
knowledge about the payments to Gribkowsky.